Wins for hometown heroes Odel Kamar and Callum Makin at the World Boxing Championships today, means the host city Liverpool will have two boxers in Wednesday’s quarter finals where they will have a chance to guarantee a bronze medal.
The pair will be joined by GB Boxing squad, Will Hewitt, who defeated a Paris 2024 silver medallist to earn a memorable 3:2 victory as well as Sacha Hickey and Damar Thomas who also came out on top of their respective contests.
In today’s first session of boxing at the M&S Bank Arena, light-middleweight (M70kg) Odel Kamara delivered a fine performance on his second appearance in the tournament. Buoyed by a fervent home crowd, the Salisbury ABC man floored his opponent within five seconds of the opening bell and was rarely troubled as he secured a unanimous 5-0 victory over Canada’s Kuwardeep Manu.
He will face Byamba-Erdene Otgonbaatar of Mongolia in the early session (starting at 12:00) on Wednesday 10 September, when he has the opportunity to guarantee a bronze medal.
Kamara said: “I like a little fast start; it gets the ball rolling. After I put him down, I just thought, box him, you know, I knew I could beat them as soon as I got a feel for him.
“So, I just thought, play it safe, don’t get no cuts, no bruises, and I’ll be ready for the next round. Just one fight at a time.”
At the start of the evening session, Kamara was joined by his England team mate Will Hewitt after the Wigan boxer sprung a surprise to defeat the number two seed Munarbek Seiitbek Uulu of Kyrgyzstan on a split decision in the welterweight (M65kg) division.
After two hard fought rounds it looked like Uulu’s experience was starting to show, however
Hewitt pulled out a superb last round to sway the judges 3-2 in his favour. He will meet Rosenov Radoslav of Bulgaria in his quarter final medal bout in the evening session, which starts at 18:00 on Wednesday 10 September.
Hewitt said: “I am buzzing! Over the moon, probably the best feeling in my life by far.
“To be fair, I know I’m being a bit critical. I really don’t think I boxed that well. But after the first round I thought I nicked it. I thought I just nicked every round I thought was landing the right shots at the right time, and I was just hoping the judges seen it that way and thankfully they did.
“I know I weren’t at my best there but to beat a lad like that when you’re not even at your best as well. He’s probably one of the favourites to win this so that being the case I know I can do well here.
“Every time you land, my friends and family in the crowd are just making that noise and it helps so much. When you win in front of them it’s the best feeling ever.”
It was left to middleweight (M75kg), Callum Makin to round off a superb day for Liverpool and the North West as he delivered one of the best performances of his career to see off Michal Jarlinski.
Watched by three of the famous Smith brothers (Paul, Callum and Stephen) from his club, Rotunda ABC, Makin was marginally behind on the cards after the first round but strong showing in the second brought him back into contest before another busy round in the third saw him do enough to edge the fight 3-2 on the cards.
Makin said: “It was great having them (the Smiths) there. It just shows what top people they are.
“The quarter final is going to be a tough fight against Canada. He a tough boy but this ones for a medal so I am really going to have to dig deep but I am looking forward to it. It’s one step closer to the dream.”
The three wins were part of another excellent day for the England team which also saw victories for Sacha Hickey (W65kg), Emily Asquith (W80kg) and super-heavyweight, Damar Thomas who are all now in Wednesday’s quarter finals.
It means that at the end of day four, 14 English boxers remain in the competition and eight will compete for a guaranteed medal in the quarter finals.
First to compete for a medal will be Chantelle Reid who will box China’s Mengge Zhang in the evening session on Tuesday 9 September 2025.
The remaining quarter finals will take place on Wednesday when all 64 bouts at the World Boxing Championships will be for a medal.
In tomorrow’s action we have five GB Boxers competing for a place in the quarter finals, whilst Chantelle Reid can guarantee herself a world medal with a victory.
Up first at 13:45 is Lucy Kings-Wheatley (60kg) who takes on Kazakhstan’s Viktoriya Grafeyeva in ring A.
Then, in the only other action in the afternoon session, Dimeji Shittu faces Canada’s Nickenson Denis at 15:15 in an 80kg contest in ring B.
Moving into the day’s evening session and after a lengthy wait, Alice Pumphrey gets her light-flyweight campaign underway in ring B against Bulgaria’s veteran Sevda Asenova at 18:15.
Then Paris 2024 Olympian Chantelle Reid will box to guarantee a place on the podium in ring B when she goes up against China’s Mengee Zhang at 19:00.
Patris Mughalzai will be looking for a repeat performance from last time out when he challenges Kazakhstan’s Yetrugan Zeinulinov at 21:00 in ring b.
Closing the show and having waited six days to step foot in the ring, cruiserweight Teagn Stott will go head-to-head with Czechia’s Daniel Komarek at 22:15 in ring a.
For the latest news and information about the World Boxing Championships 2025, including tickets, the draw and boxers taking part visit www.worldboxingliverpool.com.
Tickets are on sale and prices start at £15 for adults and £5 for concessions (U16, OAPs, students and those in receipt of benefits). A “buy 10, get one free” offer is available for group bookings.
The results of all the bouts involving boxers from Great Britain will be posted on GB Boxing’s social media channels and at www.gbboxing.org.uk.
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